Saturday 4 August 2012 17.27 EDT
First published on Saturday 4 August 2012 17.27 EDT

It was a night when football was politely ushered towards the "and in other news" slot and, from here, there will be no further opportunity for Stuart Pearce's team to join the expanding list of other Great Britain success stories. They are out, losing a penalty shootout in scenes that felt a long way from the exhilarating drama taking place simultaneously in London, and it is South Korea who will meet Brazil in Tuesday's semi-final.

All five Korean penalties were despatched past Jack Butland and, though Aaron Ramsey, Tom Cleverley, Craig Dawson and Ryan Giggs were successful with theirs, the crucial moment came at 4-4 when Daniel Sturridge set off on that lonely walk from the centre-circle.

The Chelsea striker went for the stutter in his run-up and struck his shot cleanly enough but Lee Bum-young, the substitute Korea goalkeeper, dived to his left to turn the ball away. Ki Sung-yueng then emulated Koo Ja-cheol, Baek Sung-dong, Hwang Seok-ho and Park Jong-woo by demonstrating his expertise from 12 yards and, in that moment, Britain's hopes of a medal evaporated.

Those were traumatic moments and Sturridge was disconsolate, pushing away all attempts to comfort him. Pearce, well versed in the miseries that penalty shoot-outs can wreak, brought his players into a huddle in the middle of the pitch and told them they had played with distinction. Yet there was a sense of deja vu, too. "I've watched a lot of international tournaments and I knew British teams have had bad experiences," the victorious coach, Hong Myung-bo, said afterwards. "I knew they struggled and, because of that, I always had a strong belief we would win."

Pearce, who has now gone out of four international tournaments this way as a manager and player, will not just reflect on the final two kicks of the night but that moment, at 1-1, when Ramsey's 40th-minute penalty was saved by Jung Sung-ryong, who was later injured in a challenge that also saw Micah Richards forced off. Four minutes earlier, Ramsey had scored with another penalty, but Korea deserved the lead that Sunderland's Ji Dong-won had given them on 29 minutes and, though the game levelled out from the second half onwards, the same player had three headed opportunities to win the match.

Afterwards, Pearce was asked whether there was a "certain inevitability" about what would happen once it went to penalties. "No, it was excitement," he countered. "When it got to penalties I deemed myself, and my team, as the favourites. From the first day we got together we had been practising penalties. We studied [the opposition] thoroughly. It wasn't people missing the target, or taking bad penalties, and Daniel will be stronger for this in the long run. It's just a real shame for us … the victors would have had two matches, and two chances, for a medal. That's the real disappointment."

For long spells, though, it was a flat performance, particularly in the first half. "Fatigue played a really big part," Pearce reflected. "I'm very proud of my players because I think what we've achieved in four weeks, from base fitness, has been outstanding. It's been a great experience but congratulations to South Korea, they deserve to go through."

Britain, to give them their due, had improved in the second half. Sturridge's elusive running caused problems for the Korea defence, with Craig Bellamy and Scott Sinclair attacking from the flanks, Cleverley eager to press forward from midfield and Joe Allen, a lovely player of touch and control, increasingly influential. The disappointing part was their lack of penetration in attack and the low number of chances the team created.

Korea had begun the game playing with structure and cohesion and, having taken the lead, their players were incensed by the refereeing of the Colombian Wilmar Roldán to award Britain two penalties in quick succession. The second was fair enough, with Hwang Seok-ho culpable of a clumsy challenge on Sturridge, and the replays confirmed a handball from Oh Jae-suk for the first. Yet Oh had a legitimate argument that he was sliding in to try to block Ryan Bertrand's shot and could not possibly have got his arm out of the way. It was certainly far from clear-cut and, all things considered, Britain were fortunate to be level at half-time, never mind ruminating on the fact they could have been ahead.

Ji had opened the scoring was a stunning, diagonal left-foot drive, struck with power and accuracy, though it was a bad moment for Butland, who lost the flight of the shot and, in the process, reminded us that for all his immense potential the 19-year-old is at an age when mistakes will come from rawness. Pearce later brought on his 38-year-old, Giggs, to try to inject some more composure but it did not work and, with the pitch badly cutting up, it was a scruffy last hour or so before the final moments of drama – for Pearce, both excruciating and familiar.